Nepal keen to develop water connectivity with India

Nepal today expressed its keenness to develop water connectivity with India through Kosi and Ganga rivers which will connect the Himalayan nation with ports in West Bengal.
The issue was raised by Nepalese Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun during his meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, who is here on a three-day visit -- the first by an Indian President in 18 years.
India has an open border of 1,850 kilometers with Nepal spreading across five states -- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.
"All aspects of connectivity were discussed but one interesting thing that came up during this time and this was raised by the Vice President and that was connectivity by water. He was talking about connectivity from Kolkata through Hubli, the Ganga and the Kosi and this can come about if Kosi project develops," Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae told reporters after the meeting.

Kosi development project has been pending for over 60 years because of land issues and displacement of people from building dams on the river.
The connectivity project now being brought up by Nepal's Vice President can see the light of the day only when dams are built on the river and Kosi Development Project is started, the sources said.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the Detailed Project Report of Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project which is worth over Rs 30,000 crore for producing 5000 mega watt of electricity is likely to come up this month.
The project is on 20 per cent equity and 80 per cent loan with India and Nepal sharing the 20 per cent equity on equal basis, Rae said.

Earlier, Mukherjee held talks with his Nepalese counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari who described the visit as coming at an auspicious time.
Mukherjee invited Bhandari to visit New Delhi at the time of her convenience which she accepted, Jaishankar said.
"From the Nepalese side the term that was used was it is a historical visit and not just in terms of a visit there was visible appreciation of the personal standing of the President that he was seen as a senior statesman in the region," he said.
Quoting Prime Minister Prachanda, Jaishankar said the President has been on Nepal's side at the important historical moments.

When asked whether there was a discussion on SAARC and terrorism, he said bulk of the discussion was focused on the bilateral relations.
India was the first and largest responder after the 2015 earthquake which had caused havoc in Nepal.
Assistance of worth USD one billion was pledged for Nepal by India which includes grant of 250 million while Line of Credit of 750 million USD. India has committed to rebuild 50,000 homes for which the process has been started from Nepalese side, he said.
An oversight committee has also been formed under Indian Ambassador to see the progress of the work, he said.